Astronomical Photosby Kenneth L. Hess

This picture of Comet Hale-Bopp was taken on April 3, 1997 in Big Sur on the Old Coast Road, 1.1 miles from the Hwy 1 entrance at Molera State Park. The camera was a Nikon 135mm f/2.8, piggy-backed on my Questar 3.5 Duplex which was used as a guide scope. Exposure time was 4 minutes on Kodak Pro 400 (PPF). (107K JPEG Image)

This picture of Comet Hale-Bopp was taken on April 1, 1997 in Big Sur on the Old Coast Road, 2 miles from the Hwy 1 entrance at Molera State Park. The camera was a Hasselblad 80mm at f/2.8, piggy-backed on my Questar 3.5 Duplex which was used as a guide scope. Exposure time was 4 minutes on Kodak Pro 400 (PPF). The double cluster in Perseus is at the end of the blue, gas tail and M34 is in the upper left corner of the frame. (247K JPEG Image)

This picture was taken through my Questar 3.5 Duplex on Kodak Tri-X film. The date was June 18, 1983 and the shuttle was the Challenger (STS-7) with astronauts Crippen, Fabian, Hauck, Ride, and Thagard. My location was approximately 7 miles from the launch pad. This nighttime picture was taken several hours before liftoff.

This picture of STS-7 was also taken through the Questar on Tri-X film. The date was June 18, 1983. My location was approximately 7 miles from the launch pad, looking through thick morning haze at the time of liftoff.

"Baily's beads" seconds before totality during the solar eclipse of July 1972. Baily's beads occur when the last rays of the sun peak through the mountains of the moon. This photo was taken through an f/16, 3.25" refractor built by the author. (35K JPEG Image)

The total solar eclipse of July 1972. Note the solar prominence on the right side of the sun. This photo was taken through an f/16, 3.25" refractor built by the author. The author and his brother observed the eclipse from Cap Chat, Quebec, Canada. Of the thousands of people gathered at this location, including NASA and many university expeditions, only the author and approximately 10 nearby people were actually able to see the eclipse through a momentary hole in the clouds. It began raining minutes after totality. (68K JPEG Image)